On September 9, the German newspaper Bild published an investigation by Julian Röpke, a very well-documented and reliable journalist about everything that is happening in Ukraine. The article is based on the letter of UN Secretary General António Guterres addressed to the Minister of Foreign Affairs of the Russian Federation Sergey Lavrov.

The main goal of the UN is, according to this letter, recovery Black Sea Grain Initiative (BSIG), the plan according to which the Russian Federation agreed with Turkey on the transit of Ukrainian grain through the Black Sea under the auspices and with the participation of the United Nations. The Russian Federation unilaterally denounced the plan, which coincided with the resumption of mass attacks on Ukrainian ports and the beginning in late July of the first attacks on Ukrainian ports on the Danube — Reni, Izmail, and later Kili. Viche

In the new plan presented by Guterres, four points are taken into account:

1. In order to avoid sanctions, a state-owned bank from the Russian Federation, RSHB Capital SA, was used. It would offer bank-like transactions, but not play the role of a full-fledged bank. A financial instrument registered in Luxembourg that does not need to be registered as a bank. Thus, the UN Secretary General wants to create a fake bank inside the EU to bypass EU sanctions against the Russian Federation. Amazing, but even more shocking, is that Guterres mentions in the letter that he would already have the support of the EU in this regard! A response to Bild’s investigation has come from Brussels that appears to confirm the earlier talks Guterres pointed to:

“The EU has conveyed to the Russian Federation through the UN its willingness to find a permanent, constructive solution through a designated subsidiary of the Russian Agricultural Bank that would allow SWIFT payments to be made under EU sanctions on agricultural transactions.”

Bild’s conclusion is sad, but only right: it means that the UN and the EU are working together to circumvent the sanctions that prevented the SWIFT system from being used by the Russian Federation after the invasion of Ukraine. Ukraine – at least in the case of a bank with the capital of the Russian state.

2. The UN wants to protect Russian ships from Ukrainian attacks. This is exactly the proposal Guterres is addressing to Lavrov and he is referring to the Black and Azov Seas. Specific offer: “The UN-established insurance company for Russian food and fertilizer exports will work with Lloyd’s for 4-6 weeks”. What is surprising is the precision of the proposals, very technically thought out, an unusual fact for such a high diplomatic level. Guterres does not say things like “the UN wants the restoration of the BSGI, with full respect for international law, avoiding unilateral approaches for which the initiation of dialogue is appropriate” or something else in the same diplomatic language. The letter was not intended for the general public, so the suggestions are precise, very precise. Bild employees did not receive Lavrov’s alleged response, but it is clear that such a response cannot be, or can only be, approving. Guterres goes further and describes what this insurance should look like: Casco or P&I. Casco is insurance against external factors that may affect vessels used for transportation, while P&I insures vessels against damage caused by third parties. It is obvious that grain transport on the Black Sea in wartime needs insurance. It is legitimate that the Russian Federation would like to receive such an assurance as part of discussions on the restoration of BSGI. Guterres’ gesture to offer the UN not only as a guarantor of such an agreement, but also as its financier is incomprehensible! The letter to Lavrov describes in black and white how this should happen: “The UN will support (read “will pay”) insurance to highlight the importance of Russian exports to global food security and increase the number of participating markets with the ultimate goal of reducing insurance costs for Russian exporters.” Thus, the UN undertakes to pay for the insurance of Russian ships not together, but instead of Russian carriers! Surprisingly, maybe not, but Guterres does not propose the same measure for Ukrainian exporters. Thus, according to the UN Secretary General, Ukrainian transporters will transport grain and pay insurance at the market price, and Russian transporters will have insurance on the shoulders of the UN! And all this under conditions when, at least theoretically, Ukraine and the Russian Federation are members of the UN on equal rights. Bild contacted Lloyd’s, who responded: “No comments”.

3. Another important point of Guterres’ letter concerns the unblocking of the frozen assets of the Russian Federation. The UN Secretary-General almost unequivocally guarantees the cancellation of sanctions applied by the EU to fertilizers supplied by Russian companies. From this point of view, the content of the letter is simply shocking: it addresses the Russian Federation “provide a list of specific assets and bank accounts”again “The UN will work with the relevant national authorities and EU institutions to meet these requests.”

4. Mr. Guterres proposes to benefit Russian ships that transport fertilizers and food “access permits for rapid transit in EU ports”. Mr. Guterres asked Romania if it would agree, for example, to Russian ships passing freely through the port of Constanţa. Of course not. However, discussions took place, as Guterres writes, “with the European Commission and the port administrations of Germany, Belgium, Spain and the Netherlands”. The result is not specified. The European Commission did not deny that such discussions took place, telling Bild that they were allowed “targeted exemptions to allow Russian vessels access to EU ports for the purchase, import or transport of agricultural products or foodstuffs, including wheat and fertilisers”.

These are the compromising and shocking proposals made by the UN Secretary General to Minister Lavrov. Nothing about the more than 280,000 tons of Ukrainian wheat destroyed by the Russian armed forces after the BSGI denunciation. There is nothing about attacks by the Russian Navy on civilian ships in the Black Sea – on September 11, such an attack by the Kalibr missile complex on a Libyan-flagged ship in the Black Sea was confirmed. By acting in this way, Mr. Guterres acted as a loyal agent of Vladimir Putin. He made offers to unlock BSIG, but never in writing, always verbally. Mr. Guterres took Putin’s statements and expanded them into an official UN document.

The funniest part of the whole revelation is that Bild also asked the Russian authorities what they thought of the letter. The Kremlin did not deny the content of the letter, sources even reported it “study suggestions”. Indeed, they are so radical that they exceed even the most optimistic expectations of Moscow!

The Ukrainian authorities reacted to this letter extremely radically, qualifying it as an “unbelievable insult” and declaring that Ukraine would not agree to the resumption of BSIG’s work under any circumstances. At the same time, Ukraine declared that it would not surrender “his right under international law” check Russian ships that want to dock in Ukrainian ports.

Thus, Ukraine was put in a position to demand the application of international law against requests of the UN Secretary General. A unique situation in the history of the United Nations: a state that is the object of another state’s aggression finds itself in a situation where the state that violated international law has as its ally… the UN.

Under such conditions, are the statements of Mr. Guterres (as well as other high-ranking UN officials) credible that they want to find a solution to end the war in Ukraine by punishing the aggressor? Do the assurances that the UN will make every effort to establish an international tribunal that will investigate violations of international law by committing war crimes in Ukraine remain valid?

The Russian Federation acted simultaneously on two levels: it assured African countries that they would receive grain and fertilizers, it sent food aid precisely to ensure their goodwill, and at the same time it did everything possible to stop the transportation of Ukrainian grain. on the Black Sea. For the UN, it was necessary to offer the protection of Ukrainian grain shipments through transport corridors equivalent to those that have a humanitarian role in conflicts. He didn’t do that. There was not even a proposal on this matter, although it would have been welcome. Ukrainian ports remained burning. Only when Russian missiles hit Odesa, which is included in the UNESCO World Heritage List, there were timid positions. But nothing about wheat.

With this, the Russian Federation attracted the support of African countries. It is possible that they pressured the UN Secretary-General to reinstate the BSIG, resulting in Mr. Guterres’s infamous letter.

In support of this hypothesis, namely that the Russian Federation acted through intermediaries to send itself a letter on UN letterhead, is how the last G20 meeting took place. It started in India immediately after the UN Secretary General’s letter to Minister Lavrov became known. The result was the communiqué published on September 10, which does not say anything about the aggression of the Russian Federation in Ukraine. Mr. Lavrov was pleasantly surprised and extremely pleased that he succeeded “de-Ukrainization of discussions”. – Read the entire article and comment on Contributors.ro